From April 2018, the government will have the power to ban landlords convicted of certain criminal offences from letting property. In addition, new, stricter Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) regulations will take effect.

Landlord rental ban

Subject to parliamentary clearance, the offences for which a landlord may be banned from letting will include (among other things) burglary, blackmail, theft, stalking, harassment, immigration-related landlord offences, fire safety offences, unlawful eviction and harassment of a property’s occupier. Landlords barred from letting will also be added to a ‘rogue landlords’ database.

Houses in multiple occupation (HMO) changes

Subject to parliamentary clearance, landlords who let properties in England with five or more occupants from two or more separate households will need to obtain a licence.

In addition, a new minimum size stipulation for bedrooms in HMOs will require:

rooms slept in by one adult to be at least 6.51 square metres

rooms slept in by two adults to be at least 10.22 square metres

rooms slept in by children aged 10 or younger to be at least 4.64 square metres.

Currently, only HMOs of three or more stories require a licence, but this is being changed to include flats and one or two-storey properties.